Halloween & Museums

Yesterday, a group of us went out in Central to celebrate Halloween! I dressed up as a leopard :) We started off with dinner & happy hour in Soho and then ventured on over to LKF's (Lan Kwai Fong) Halloween street party.

*Anna G. & I dressed up as leopards :)

*Sara, Anna G., Kat, me, & Anna S.

Soho wasn't as crowded as I expected, but there was still quite a few Westerners dressed up. As we were walking to LKF, we saw a party bus filled with people in costumes & definitely wanted to be them at that point! It was impossible to get to LKF from Soho & everything was blocked off so street traffic wasn't effected. As soon as we approached LKF, it was pure insanity!! There were SO SO many people & announcements over an intercom kept repeating, "the police are now enforcing a one-way pedestrian flow throughout LKF" - it made me feel as if I was in a concentration camp, haha! The police strictly monitor the mass amount of people now because like 10 years ago on Halloween, 20 people were killed after being crushed by the crowd, yikesss! Most of the clubs were charging a $25-45 USD cover charge, & we definitely weren't interested in paying that. It was a good thing we went to Soho first :) Another thing that made me mad was how many little kids were in LKF. This is not a place for children, especially when there are thousands of drunken people walking around - take them home & put them to bed, geez!!! Halloween in LKF was definitely an experience, and I'm glad I got to witness the craziness, but I definitely wouldn't do it again, haha!

 *Ahhh the people!!

Today, Sara & I first went to the HK Space Museum and secondly, the HK Art Museum. It took us about a half hour to get through the Space Museum as it's quite small. They have exhibits talking about rocket launches, the planets & stars, etc. We also watched a 40-minute movie about "cosmic collisions" on their huge I-max screen. The images were pretty, but I almost fell asleep because the information was kind of boring, haha! The Art Museum is also small, but has a bunch of antiques from the Chinese dynasties & contemporary Chinese art. The antique rooms were neat & showcased a bunch of pottery, tea sets, sculptures, and jewelry. Chinese art is very, very different from what we are used to at the art museums in the US - almost all of the paintings are in black & white & there is a large amount of calligraphy. Some of the calligraphy is very sloppy & hard to read, while other calligraphy is very intricate and precise. I definitely enjoyed the museums, especially because it was only $5 HKD (60 cents in the US) for students - can't go wrong with that :)

*Space Museum I-max theater!

*Example of Chinese calligraphy

That's all for now, until next time - Happy Halloween as well :) Love you all!!!

New album:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2097293&id=1490346167&l=c0724639f1

International Day

This past Wednesday was International Day at Lingnan, which is where students at the university set up booths representing their country by serving traditional food & some even dance,sing, or play an instrument for everyone :) Us exchange students from the USA did our own booth called "The American Dream" & served sloppy joes, coleslaw, and cake to around 400 people. The night before, a few of us made the sloppy joes & coleslaw, which took us about 5 hours. Boy did my hands hurt after chopping up carrots, celery, peppers, and onions for that long, haha!!!

*Anna G. & I in front of our booth :)

*Me getting the plates ready!

After a few performances, it was time for us to serve our delicious food! We already had a line forming outside of our booth like a half hour before we were allowed to open! We tried to free some space by giving people food early, but we got in trouble for doing so, oops! But, as soon as we opened the booth, it was pure madness for the next hour & a half. Thank goodness we had enough people to help because the line was never ending & I don't think I looked up once for that hour & a half except when some of the locals randomly wanted to take a picture with me, haha! Unfortunately, we ran out of food about a half hour before the event was over, which was fine with me because then I was able to walk around to the other booths: France, Switzerland, Turkey, Mexico, Germany, Denmark, South Korea, Jamaica, India, South Korea, Mainland China, & Japan.

 *Germany!

*Switzerland!

*France!

Even though we ran out of food & scrambled to get everything ready, International Day was a great event & it was really neat to see so many cultures come together in one night :)

*Anna S., Ryan, and I representing the US!

Happy Valley & Shopping

Wednesday night, some of us went to the Happy Valley Racecourse in Causeway Bay to see some horse racing! We got there right before the second to last race & the place was filled with Westerners (some very attractive gentlemen might I add, haha)!!! That night, the theme at the course was Oktoberfest, so they were serving German food, beer, and many girls were wearing dirndls (those traditional German dresses). The course was PACKED, so it was difficult to manuever around, but we luckily found a spot to stand right by the fence that provided us with a great view of the races - the race goes by so fast & the horses are so pretty :) I also don't think the people attending the races really watch the horses at all - it seemed as if everyone was just standing around drinking & talking to eachother. It was definitely a fun experience, but since we got to the course a little late, I'd like to go back again before I leave.

*Happy Valley!

*Gosia, Melody, Anna G., Silvia, and I :)

We had the day off Thursday because of graduation, so Anna G. & I had planned to do a day tour of the New Territories - the area outside of Hong Kong Island & also where Lingnan is located. However, Typhoon Megi was expected to hit HK Friday night, so they cancelled the tour right before we were getting ready to leave campus since the warning signal 3 was in place. I thankfully did not get to experience my first typhoon because Megi passed right by HK & headed for east China instead. Since the tour was cancelled, we had a great Western breakfast at the Flying Pan in Central (exchangers - go there, its amazing!) & decided to head to Stanley for the day. I had already been to Stanley, but the market has many interesting trinkets & a nice ambience. I'm sure I'll go back again before I leave in order to get Christmas gifts for my family :) After Stanley, we ventured off to Hong Kong Park in Admiralty. The park is quite small, but has a teaware museum with really neat tea sets, an aviary where there's 600 pretty, colorful birds, and an Olympic ampitheater where the opening ceremonies for the East Asian Games took place. The aviary was really neat, but after a while, I started to get paranoid that one was going to attack me, haha!

*Waterfall in Hong Kong Park

*Pretty birdies :)

Yesterday, Celia, who is a local here at Lingnan, took Anna G. & I shopping in Mongkok, which was so nice of her to show us around :) We first went to a mall & Fa Yuen (Garden) Street, which were both filled with small shops selling clothing, shoes, and accessories. The majority of the clothes were quite reasonable (between like $8-20 USD), which was very nice to see for a change. I now know where everyone in HK shops because it was soooo busy! Unfortunately, you aren't allowed to try the clothes on because they are all "free size" & once you pick out what you want, they go in the back & give you what you picked out in a plastic bag. I didn't like that you couldn't try the clothes on, but I took a risk and bought stuff anyways. One of my shirts ended up being wayyyy too small (it was much smaller than the one on display) & another had like a big bubble on the back of the shirt that is super weird (obviously I only looked at the front like a dumby). It's a good thing they were cheap because it'd be too much of a hassle to take them back as they probably wouldn't understand me anyways. Lastly, we went to Cotton On - a chain men's & women's clothing store that originated in Australia. It's probably not a good idea that we went there because everything was SO cute & I know I'm going to want to go there all of the time now, haha! Our shopping day was great & I'm now happy to know that stores other than Gucci, Prada, Chanel, & Burberry exist in HK :)

Well, that's about all for now - until next time, love you all!!!

New pictures added to album:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2092750&id=1490346167&l=00fa56084c

Lamma Island

Yesterday, Anna, Kat, Sara, & I went to Lamma Island, which is an island off Hong Kong Island. It only took us about a half hour to reach one side of  the island by ferry, so not a bad trip at all. Lamma Island is known for its seafood restaurants & seafood displayed in tanks in front of all the restaurants, consisting of some of the biggest crabs & lobsters I've ever seen in my life! The staff at the restaurant will simply take the seafood out of their tank & cook it up to serve to the customers!

*Now that's a big crab!!

There are two sides to the island, so we decided to take the trail from one side (Yung Sheu Wan) to the other (Sok Kwu Wan). Before starting our trek, we stopped to have a quick snack at a cute little vegetarian cafe :) After our snack, I used my first ever squatter toilet - I was quite proud of myself after doing so, hahaha! It took us about an hour and a half to get to Sok Kwu Wan on the trail, which was very jungle-like & a bit steep. Sometimes it felt like I was going to fall backwards while climbing up the mountain, but it was well worth it as the view from the top was gorgeous!

*Me at the top of the mountain

Once we made it to Sok Kwu Wan, we explored for a bit & then figured out where we would eat our seafood dinner! We decided to share a few different dishes so we would be able to taste everything: prawns, fried lobster, scallops, squid, and fried rice. Everything was quite good! After dinner, we took the ferry back to Central as we were exhausted from the long day. I really enjoyed the island because it was so different from Hong Kong Island. It was very peaceful & there weren't thousands of people mauling into you everywhere you turned, haha! There were no skyscrapers in sight, so we were able to have a great view of the harbor as well!

*Kat, Anna, and I :)

*So pretty!

Today, Sara, Anna, and I went to the movies to see Eat, Pray, Love. I really enjoyed the movie & the HK movie experience. The seats were super, super comfortable & the movie theater was quite fancy inside with a wine bar & concession area that sold popcorn, yessss! I'm sure we'll be going back when Harry Potter  comes out here on December 16th, which is unfortunately about a month later than the US, so depressing :(

I've officially been in HK for two months now, which is so surreal because time has really flown by. I'm having a great time here & am making sure to take advantange of everything there is to do & see. I'm so lucky to be having this experience! Now, if only I could concentrate on my school work, that would be even better, hahaha! Well, that's it for now, love you all!!

New pictures:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2092750&id=1490346167&l=00fa56084c



Sheung Wan Heritage Trail & Red Bull Flugtag

On Saturday, I went on a heritage trail tour of Sheung Wan with about twenty other exchange students. We met our tour guide & started off at the Western Market. There were a few souvenir shops on the first floor & the second floor was filled with all types of fabrics - it reminded me of Mood in NYC :) We then visited a few streets, such as Queen's Road, which was the first road built by the British during their colonization of HK. This part of the tour was a little boring as the tour guide would always say "well this used to be ____, but it was burnt down/destroyed however many years ago." So, we didn't really get to see anything at this point, but instead looked at his pictures of what used to be on the streets we were walking through.

*Western Market - Edwardian style building

*Incense lamps inside Man Mo Temple

After visiting those streets, we strolled past the Tung Wah hospital, the first hospital established in Colonial Hong Kong due to the bubonic plague, & visited Hollywood Road Park & the Museum of Medical Sciences. We then went inside the Man Mo Temple on Hollywood Road, which was being renovated both inside & outside, so it was difficult to see the details on the outside of the temple. While inside the temple, we experienced an incense overdose, sheesh!!! The tour was educational & quite interesting, but like mentioned before, we didin't get to see a large amount of monuments, rather quite a few pictures. After leaving our tour guide, we walked to the tram station where we boarded our own tram for a ride throughout the city! The tram ride was very relaxing and we all very much enjoyed our driver's play list of Backstreet Boys, Christina Aguilera, and Michelle Branch, hahaha! After the tram tour, Anna G., Anna S., and I went to Soho & decided to eat at a Greek restaurant. I ordered the grilled octopus, which was quite good (of course not as good as Greek Islands in Chicago, haha). However, it was such a small portion (like 5 itty bitty peices of octopus) for the large price tag!!! Now we know never to go back there again!!

*Me on the tram :)

Today, a group of exchange students & I went to the first ever Red Bull Flugtag event in Asia! Flugtag is German for "flight day" & about 40 Hong Kong locals competed to see who could build the most creative plane & who's could fly the furthest after being pushed off a ramp over the harbour. Before pushing the plane off the ramp, the teams had a little 30-second show where they would do some form of dance routine to get the crowd pumped up for their flight into the water. Most of the planes were really neat & I of course liked the Harry Potter themed plane the best :) No one's plane went very far at all, in fact, most just toppled right over the ramp into the water, haha! We didn't stay for the entire event as our feet were starting to hurt after standing for a few hours, but I'm glad we decided to go because it was a really neat, different event!

*Fox's plane with an Avatar theme!

*Silvia, me, and Anna G. at the Red Bull Flugtag :)

This past Friday, I talked to the students here at Lingnan who are interested in studying abroad in the US about Butler. It would be neat if someone from here decided to come to Butler! In fact, I met the girl (through Facebook) from Lingnan who took my spot at Butler & she's actually rooming with a girl from my hometown of Valparaiso! Such a small world!! Well, that's all for now - until next time, love you all!!

New pictures added to album:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2092750&id=1490346167&l=00fa56084c

My weekend trip to 北京 (Beijing)!!!

Yesterday, I returned to HK from spending Thursday-Sunday in the lovely city of Beijing with Anna S. It was a great trip & it was amazing that I was able to see some of the most beautiful historical sites in the world! However, the locals were celebrating National Day, and Beijing was full of people, which meant everything was unbelievably crowded! Around 2 PM on Thursday, Anna & I made it to Beijing and immediately (thank goodness) found our driver to take us to our hotel - the Shatan Hotel. I LOVED our hotel - it was super clean, spacious, and the staff was very helpful. There was this fabulous Western cafe across the street that we went to every day & I miss it already! We had some great conversations there with many tourists from Norway, Australia, England, etc. & people from all over would write messages on the walls - too bad we didn't get asked to do so, but there wasn't much room left on the walls :) On Thursday night, Anna & I went to see the Beijing Opera. Let's just say that I never want to experience something like that again, hahaha! The performers don't sing, they screech & it started to hurt my ears! At least the costumes and makeup were fun to look at though!

*Beijing Opera performers

*Video from opera :)

On Friday, we took a tour to the Great Wall & also went to the Ming Tombs, jade & silk factories, a tea house, and we even got a foot massage :) We were expecting to go to the less crowded part of the Wall, and that is what we paid to do, but apparently it didn't work out that way. Seeing the Great Wall was surreal, and there were so many people trying to go up and come down at the same time, so there was absolutly no order. I was scared for my life before we decided to start climbing up, but it was a great experience otherwise. After leaving the Great Wall, we went to the Ming Tombs of the 12th Emperor of China. We didn't get to see the actual tomb, just the entrance to the tomb, but it was still really neat! We also drove past the 2008 Olympic Bird's Nest & Water Cube, which were both really impressive, but never visited the actual buildings. I did manage to snap a quick picture from the bus though!

*Me before our climb up the Great Wall

*Ming Tombs

On Saturday, we went to the Forbidden City, Summer Palace, Temple of Heaven, and pearl factory - all were so amazing!! We started off at the Summer Palace (an area where Empress Cixi lived) & toured the grounds to see Cixi's living quarters. Tourists aren't allowed to go up to the actual palace, but the view of the palace from afar is stunning. We also took a dragon boat from one side of the palace to the other, really neat :) Our next stop was the Temple of Heaven, which is a Taoist temple. This was my favorite building as the colors & details were so intricate & bright (it was just repainted before the 2008 Olympics). We couldn't get a view inside the temple as there were so many people crowded around in order to snap a few pictures, but short old me couldn't manage to do so, haha! Finally, we ventured to the Forbidden City, which is MASSIVE!!! After a while, everything started to look the same as it's one big maze. I can't imagine how people found their way around back in the day. After leaving our tour guide, we went to the Silk Market, which was pure insanity. The owners of the booths would grab your arms & say "lady,lady, come look, come look" - I just wanted to get away as fast as possible because they were like savage wolves! I like the markets in HK much better! We had some great people on our tours on Friday & Saturday - a few from Vietnam, Australia, Austria, and one older man from Peru that looked & smelled exactly like my Grandpa! I wish I would have taken a picture with him because it was so peculiar how much he reminded me of my Grandpa! I'm glad we decided to do the tours because there's no way we would have been able to see as much as we did in the few days we were there.

*Summer Palace

*Temple of Heaven :)

*Entrance to Forbidden City

Sunday, we slept in late as we had been getting up between 5 & 6 AM for our tours the past two days & of course we ate at our favorite cafe before heading off to the airport. Sunday must have been the final celebration for National Day, because so many locals were parading around in the streets. When our driver picked us up for the airport, it took forever to get through the streets until the highway because no one would move!! So, word to the wise: don't go to Mainland China during the National Day weekend, haha :) All in all, Beijing was a wonderful experience, minus the crowds of the people, & I'm so happy I decided to go. We went for the perfect amount of time as I started to miss HK (Bejing is much more traditional) & the mass pollution was getting to my contacts! I also even got to practice my Mandarin, but the men speak with really heavy "r"'s & I couldn't understand them at all compared to the women.

Until next time, love you all! Oh & a note of celebration is needed: the Yanks made it to post-season, yessss!!!! I can see Yankees World Series '10 Champs attire already :)

Pictures, pictures!!:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2094050&id=1490346167&l=1ef1dbe1cf